Fedora 8 came out today and quite frankly, it sucks. I’m a Fedora user and I run Fedora on about 10 servers right now, including this one that hosts Dvorak Uncensored. But even though I’m a fan I think that it’s time to end the intellectual welfare that all the Linux reviewers give it and raise the bar to the same standards that commercial software is judged by. What is that standard you ask? It’s the standard of “does it work”. My conclusion – no – it doesn’t. Fedora 8 is broken.
I downloaded the 64 bit released version. My hardware is as follows:
1. Motherboard A8N-VM CSM
2. CPU: AMD 4400+ dual core processor
3. 4 gigs of ram
4. Maxtor 300gb SATA II drive
5. Monitor Samsung Syncmaster 912n 1280×1024
I did a generic install using all the defaults. The only thing I did unique was the root password. The install appeared to go fine. Did a reboot and it took 10 minutes to come up. It got stuck on loading Sendmail until something timed out. Eventually it came to in 800×600 resolution by default in spite of the fact that my screen is 1280×1024. The first thing I noticed was that the cursor was missing. Technically it was there – but you couldn’t see it. This by itself makes it fail the “just works” test.
Being an expert, I already know to try to disable the fancy GUI boot-up to get the cursor back but the average person doesn’t know that, nor should they. So after switching to text mode and editing the /boot/grub/grub.conf file and rebooting, I managed to get the system up with a cursor.
But since I had a 1280×1024 screen, I wanted to see it in the resolution that the screen supports. So I ran the display configuration and set the Monitor to Samsung 712n which was on their list. Now if this were a Windows computer, I wouldn’t have had to do that because Windows just knows what monitor you hook up.
After selecting the correct monitor, I returned to select the resolution and even though I had selected a 1280×1024 monitor I still couldn’t select anything bigger than 800×600. So I tried a reboot thinking maybe after it boots up with the new monitor setting, then it would give me the choices for the resolution. But after the reboot, it came up in some strange mode that was something like 1370×768, which is beyond the dimensions of the selected monitor.
I could have started trying to edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file but decided f*ck it. Why should I spend several more hours on Fedora 8 just trying to get it to work with a standard size screen? I have better things to do. Yes, if I wanted to, I could eventually get it to work but why should I?
So then I downloaded the “Live DVD” for the 64 bit version, the i386 version is called “Live CD” which is what they used to call it in Fedora 7 until I pointed out that the size of the image file they put out was too big to fit on a CD. I filed a bug report and the response was “Won’t Fix”. So I download the Fedora 8 version called “Live DVD” but when I went to burn it, the burner software said that the image can’t be burned onto a DVD because it was in CD format.
So – the bottom line is that when tested on a standard system using hardware that is about 2 years old, it just plain doesn’t work. On first boot there was no cursor. Once I fixed that, it failed to adjust to the resolution of my monitor. And the “Live DVD” image is formatted for a CD but to big to fit on a CD. I’m not going to report this as a bug because if I get another “won’t fix,” it’s really going to piss me off.
The bottom line is – it doesn’t work. Fedora 8 is as bad as Fedora 7. It’s broken and it sucks.
Like I said, unlike other Linux reviewers, I have a higher standard of what I consider a passing grade. To me an operating system should at least come up and work. If it doesn’t work, it’s a failure. I’m not going to give Linux welfare the way other reviewers do. If it’s broken then I flunk it. Fedora 8 flunks.
A lot of people put Vista down because it sucks. I’m not using it myself but Vista does at least work. Can you imagine what people would say if you installed Vista and you didn’t have a mouse cursor? Or if they put out a “Live DVD” in CD format? Or you were stuck in 800×600 mode with a 1280×1024 monitor? Do you think Vista would get the kind of positive reviews that Linux gets? I don’t think so.
I think it’s wrong to lower the bar for Linux. When we pretend that Linux works when it doesn’t it creates a false sense of success. People ask why folks choose Windows or Macs over Linux when Linux is free. That answer is simple. Windows works, Linux doesn’t. If you give something away for free and people still pick the expensive OS over your free OS then maybe it’s time to get a clue.
64. “so complex for the average person to use and maintain that Geeksquad and Firedog are the only thing keeping many people from throwing their PCs out the Window.”
Wow, really? The Geeksquad, Firedog?
Bwahahahahahhahahhhhhahhahhahahahahhahahhahahahah!
What is this Linux on the desktop crap anyway? The goal of Linux is not to be a desktop OS. It is certain distributions that are pursuing the desktop path. The many distributions packaging Linux have many goals. So to make blanket comments about if Linux wants to be on the desktop, such and such needs to be done is all bogus. CentOS does not want to be a desktop OS. SystemRescueCD does not want to be a desktop OS. Fedora really isn’t a desktop OS either because it is a proving ground for technologies that might make it into Redhat’s other Linux packages.
If you are looking for a desktop OS do some research and find a Linux distribution that is aiming for the desktop. Try Linspire or Freespire. Or Xandros.
Stop making blanket comments about a very diverse field.
Rather than complain about things that don’t work, why not get stuck in. That’s why free software is good: if it doesn’t work, you can fix it! What happens if it doesn’t work in Windows? You have to wait around until Microsoft finally puts a fix out.
Oh, and I’m running Fedora 8 on a 6 month old Toshiba laptop and it works perfectly, out of the box: suspend/resume; accelerated graphics (it’s an Intel chip); wifi…everything.
I’m glad to read a Linux review that comes from the point of view of a typical potential consumer. If you follow a website like LXer, a site that pulls stories about Linux from many sources, you would get the impression that Windows is just a breath away from disappearing and Linux is ready to replace it.
I love Linux, I run it almost exclusively at home, and I think it is slowly improving. But I’m not a typical user and am willing to put up with a little aggravation to make it work. But it is frustrating to see many issues that never get fixed or reappear after having been fixed on earlier distros. I know there are a lot of good people working very hard on Linux, many for free. But, they shouldn’t fool themselves. Linux crashes, a lot. Many applications don’t always work. I spend far more time keeping Linux going than I ever did with Windows.
To fool oneself into believing otherwise only keeps Linux from becoming better. And if a different model is needed to make Linux more competitive with Windows or Apple, the community shouldn’t be afraid to try it.
Ok i have been a linux User for a very long time since before you could drag and drop windows without programming it in. The GUI has never been the main focus of linux , that is new , and its because Nvidia and ATI finally let us have proprietary drivers. Linux is used for networks and networking , hell the movie HAPPY feet was rendered on Linux , Gaming is also not a major Goal it is fun to dabble in But Microsoft has developers on a string so what big company is going to switch totoally to linux? Basically your bitching about 3d acceleration not working right of the box and basically Xwindow problems , everyone who gets into linux needs to learn how to fix minor xwindow issues , bottom line is Linux is better than windows , in so many many ways 3d acceleration is minor especially when you know a little bit , my guess is your expert status is more of an ego thing than actuality because i can have most distros, save for ubuntu, up and running with support in a few minutes , although i am going to admit im a little upset with fedora 8 but its only been out 2 days , i tried an install last night and i cannot get the video driver module to build , i will wait until they fix some problems and try again , obviously you cant catch everything until its had some play time in production. Oh and who has lowered the Bar on linux i know i haven’t , i have had way more problems with windows than linux , not relating to the windowing system. Is vista visually better indeed it is spending billions on something can give it some flash , but it more restrictive about media formats and therefore will limit what you can do , and I’m sure there will be issues with music people even paid for not registering as being legal , and also please remember with windows you are not buying an OS you are buying a license to use the OS read the EULA for Vista its all there ,it is so restrictive you might as well stick with XP its better anyways and can be made to look like Vista so who needs Vista , Oh and one more thing if Linux is so terrible why Does the NSA use SElinux they even Made it obviously windows wasn’t good and secure enough for national security uses. I also agree with Badcam , all OS have problems and blah blah. I am running fedora 8 now at 800×600 to see if anyone else had complaints but i don’t like seeing people diss Linux as a whole , sure its not a perfect desktop but hell it hasn’t been around even near as long as Windows and its not that from visually behind however , in all other areas with a little effort bye end user it can smoke windows. I guess i like moonshine better than Werewolves so its time to go back , oh but dude fedora 7 does not suck i didn’t have any problems with it not even with the 3d accel so cant agree with you there. I am glad to see more people defending Linux. I even keep winXP in my computer it is nice sometimes like now to have a working OS so i installed windows media player and got the divx codec to watch my movies anyways Have A Good day all and remember embrace the power of Freedom we wont have it much longer in the USA
mperkel, before you make any more complaints about your video not working, be sure to actually *read* the NVIDIA EULA instead of just looking for the “I Agree” button. Specifically, this section:
2.1.1 Rights. Customer may install and use one copy of the SOFTWARE on a single computer, and except for making one back-up copy of the Software, may not otherwise copy the SOFTWARE. This LICENSE of SOFTWARE may not be shared or used concurrently on different computers.
So you see, Fedora (nor any Linux distro) cannot *legally* ship with NVIDIA’s proprietary drivers, even if they really wanted to. That means that *you* must read and agree with the EULA, *you* must download the drivers, and *you* must install the drivers, and no one else can bear that responsibility for you. And you know what? ATi does the same thing with their fglrx drivers. See why most Linux distro maintainers dislike proprietary drivers? Their licensing makes the end user’s life far more complicated than it needs to be, as you have so aptly pointed out.
As an aside, for those who are having issues with too-big dialogues on 800×600 res: If you hold down Alt, you can drag windows around from anywhere in the window.
Just thought you might like to know.
And by the way, my Fedora 8 install went just fine.
The only difference between a n00b’s tech blogging and flogging is that flogging leaves some impressions.
I am completely in the spirit of the author. I use RedHat then Fedora from many years. Linux was never an “plug and pay” system. Every time we need to modified, adjust something to make usable this OS. In the past, any software install pause problem, dependencies, where is the launcher etc. From Fedor 6, no more integration of Samba!!! But an new wonderful soft. (Why?) It’s can’t resolve the netbios name! Easy said the FAQ, just put the IP address. This is a very good jump forward, personally, I think backward. No problem to install on my different computers with various hardware configurations
Thank for yum. It’s very good improvement of install
Fedora 7. Impossible to install on 60% of my machines! But same problem with Unbutu. The cause is XFree. Please forum’s gentlemen, xorg.conf is not good, your monitor declarations are wrong etc. It very simple, any standard video configuration like VESA or 800 x 600 60Hz MUST work in any cases. Xfree hang-up, point.
Fedora 7.91: some improvement about Xfree
Fedora 8: comeback to Fedora 7 problems. Of course install in text mode, news drivers OK but no cursor in X.
I not speak about Gnome Nautilus file finder. Slow and impossible to use with very many files in folders
I not speak of Totem player. Player of what? I search some files that are able to play with it.
I use Windows, unfortunately, Linux for my old software guy face. Just for the fun… and for a server, in the good old text mode. In 2007, same like 70’s. I am disappointed, Linux and community offer other way but the way is long because the developer doesn’t want consider the user like USER not PROGRAMMER. I am electronic developer but after work I would like to use my computer like wonderful tool to play, listen music, and watch video. 25 years a go I had a dream, many thinks are now here but in perfect chaos.
Sorry for my English. Have a good day
Well I think it sucks too … but mine is a different bone to grind :
http://lowks.inigo-tech.com/blog/wtf-fedora
Beautiful post. I am a long-time Linux user who just recently left the fedora camp, with the release of Fedora 8. I wasn’t able to upgrade to F8 (there is a well-known bug for this), the “seriously improved” pirut failed to allow me to add atrpms repository, (had to add it via /etc/yum.conf) etc etc. Then, hibernate stopped working (it was ok in F7). So I switched to Ubuntu, and that sucks, too.
I installed Fedora 8 on an HP pavillion dv8000 series laptop (Core Duo, twin 80G sata, Nvidia GO7600 etc) the video worked (without the nvidia drivers) at the native 1440×900 resolution (obviousoly minus 3d acceleration)
I added the livna repos, installed mplayer and Nvidia drivers and so far, it’s categorically the single best distro I’ve tried, even hibernate work OTOB (and that’s a first for any distro)
Ubuntu 6->7.10 (yes every version), openSuse 10->10.3
Fedoras 5 and onwards
The only distro that has ever performed better was Gentoo and I only god fed up with that after I relised Gimp wouldn’t open jpegs because I’d forgotten to tell it to (there *is* such a thing as too much reconfigurability and Gentoo is it, sorry Gentoo fans).
So ner to all you whingebags :o)
I’ve been looking into getting fedora 8 on my macbook (2 yrs old). I have 0 experience with linux, so i realize i’m on the outside looking in.
Every site i’ve been to is full of people with problems installing this system. Frankly, the success stories are in the minority. I respect that this OS assumes a decent level of ability/experience with linux, but the Fedora 8 pages state “it should just work” as a mission objective. Does it?
If I try Fedora 8, will it take me months of trials, error, and research to get this thing up and running with no problems? How is that better than spending $150 to get MacOS…?
Admittedly, my main concern is having a computer that works, not making the world a better place.
I read a lot comments about both operating systems ( Vista and Linux). I have both dual boot on a home made system with fairly new hardware and P running on another machine. I haven’t had any of the issue that many of you are speak off. Although, I do get my share of minor problems on both operating system, on my vista I had some video/sound sync issues which only took a few minutes (less than 10) and a few clicks to fix. My Fedora 8 had had some video playback issues which again only took a few minutes (less then 10) and few clicks to fix. For the most part, both OS ran smooth immediately after the install. I tend run Fedora 8 more than Vista and haven’t spent hours repairing issues, I find both system are about on the same level. Vista a $200+ price tag and Fedora is free, so in view point it’s whatever floats your aircraft carrier.
Here here! I’m tired of hearing all these great things about Linux and then trying to install it and half the s**t doesn’t work. What’s the point if I have to spend hours trying to configure files that should work automatically. To be fair to Fedora however, it’s the only distribution so far that has picked up my wireless adapter right away without any configuration. The other distro’s would find it but it wouldn’t work.
hi dude’s, im a beginner in linux, now i have a pc with dual boot (win xp and fedora 5), i wanna upgrade fedora 5 to fedora 8,while i try to install with bootup CD, its prompting me options for 1.new installation 2.Upgrade existing fedora. if i choose the 2nd option and upgrade the fedora, will i still be able to dual boot with xp or i’ll lose xp???? can some one help me in this regard????????
I too experienced the no-visible-cursor in Fedora 8, plus the resolution problem, plus an inability to install any updates or additional software due to an “unhandled exception” in pup that is surprisingly tenacious.
I have installed the top 50 Linux distributions, multiple versions of each (different architectures, or different iterative versions), essentially hundreds of individual installations, and without a doubt, Fedora is one of the most user hostile distros out there.
For a company that took free software, built a “business” around it, got instantly, insanely, and undeservedly rich from their stock IPO, and then continue to produce the garbage they do, with the disdain for their users worn as a badge of honor, is truly reprehensible.
Any serious Linux user could name a dozen distros put out by a one-man “team,” for free, that eclipse Fedora handily in ease of installation, documentation, reliability, functionality, and lack of pretense.
Linux in general enjoys such “intellectual welfare” because of the politics involved. TANSTAAFL
just downloaded and installed gnome fedora 8 i686 off a CD image onto a recycled compaq with 250MB ram and 1.3 ghz.
aside from the install gui (booted and running off the CD) being very slow, no complaints. Really, the install program default should be a text interface. Not even microsoft loads up a full gui before running their install program.
no tweaking required. I get 1920×1080 resolution.
Wow and i’m writing this email from the firefox browser.
Maybe I’m lucking out using older hardware, but so far, so good.
To most of the above responses:
I run Fedora 64-bit (FC6 currently) on several servers, with no problems. But I DO run it in text mode, and agree a GUI is a waste of resources for a server.
Fedora 8 (my experience): I too have hit several issues on the 32-bit version.
– The install loader hang on some laptops (nohz=off nolapic fixes).
– The GUI logout selection non-functioning (GDM? vs. KDM? still a problem. SELinux off doesn’t help Intermittent problem still).
– The first full upgrade causing all USB ports to go dead and the cursor to disappear (?).
On the upside: The “tips&tricks” suggestions for DVD play works better/smoother than FC6 with fewer dropped frames. WooHoo!
At this point I am still hesitant to install the 64-bit version on my working workstation until it becomes a bit more stable.
Tried Fedora 8 for a few days. Could not get sound working on laptop and seemed to suck battery faster than Ubuntu 7.10. On desktop pc with cheap card- fonts were discolored. Xorg looked very strange and minimal. Ubuntu is faster,easier and much better suited for desktop. Fedora repo’s are slower too. Depends on hardware I think, might try Fedora next on my AMD x2 box.
Well, I do agree that things should basically “just work,” especially with standard hardware. This is the way things usually occur on the very professional Unix/Unix-like Mac OS/X, for example.
These days, people don’t have hours of time to waste editing conf files and reinstalling drivers until everything works.
However, I have two major complaints about this article.
First, at home, I have Fedora Core 5, Debian Sid/Lenny, Windows XP Media Center, XP Pro (work laptop), XP Home, Windows 2000 Pro, and recently Mac OS/X 10.5 (Leopard) all running at the same time.
Guess which OSes I spend the most time making hardware work? *All* of the Windoze XP boxes, and one of my two 2000 machines.
I do not plan to *ever* upgrade to Vista.
I am *constantly* trying to make XP MCE 2005 work with my Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 1600 (HDTV tuner) and my secondary video cards. I have spent tens of hours on it. I have already taken back an ATI card and replaced it with an NVidia, which works better with my HP’s onboard NVidia card, but still has issues.
I cannot keep XP Home on a Toshiba laptop stable.
My work computer (XP Pro) has a severely jacked up BlueTooth system. There went a few tens of hours, there too.
I cannot get Windoze 2000 to quit trying to “autodetect” a hard drive controller upon every reboot. This is a minor annoyance compared to the issues with XP.
I’m not even a gamer (and again, I refuse to go Vista). Otherwise, I would expect to spend even more effort.
WINDOZE needs to “just work” the way my Fedora, Debian, and Mac boxes work. Those work ALL THE TIME and virtually worked/work out-of-the-box.
Even SUPPORTED Windoze hardware doesn’t “just work” on 4 of 4 machines for me. They don’t work with vendor-supplied drivers or with Windoze-downloaded and updated drivers.
When I tried out a Live DVD of Fedora 7 (not 8, since VMware Server isn’t compatible without a lot of effort) on my FC 5 box, once again, everything worked.
That’s why I’ll probably make Fedora 7 my next version. (I don’t like everything to be latest/unstable, anyway, since that’s usually a waste of time). Fedora hardware? It’s an AMD 64×2 HP box with 3G RAM.
Moral of the story: “Your mileage may vary”.
However, this article isn’t fair and objective. It’s just written to fuel the flame wars, create conflict, and to have Dvorak make money off of us (ads/links/whatever).
Linux should be held to a higher standard that it is. Again, I agree.
On the other hand, ethically you should not hold free/volunteer efforts to the same level as paid efforts.
So, comparing RHCE to Windoze 2003 is a valid comparison. Holding Fedora to the same standard as Vista/XP is invalid.
The fact that Fedora is generally an unpaid, volunteer effort and the fact that “Service Pack 2” hasn’t been released yet (usually about the time Windoze works better), you simply aren’t being fair and objective.
Your experience is also not the same as others, either, so maybe you’re not much of an expert after all:
http://www.madpenguin.org/cms/?m=show&id=8094
…and why not try Ubuntu 7.10? It’s about as close to an out-of-the-box experience a free Linux is, for now.
To be even more fair to the unpaid Linux volunteers, consider this. The hardware vendors don’t usually help, release open source code, or release specs to Linux coders. What about that, John? Obviously, this, too, shows that you’re not an expert.
Even when you find paid contributors to a Linux distribution, consider your cost…. What was your cost for Fedora 8, again? Oh yeah, $0.00, exactly.
I seriously doubt that the man who called us “the Linux Fringe” is some kind of Linux expert. His extremely long line of failed predictions makes me wonder what kind of expert he thinks he is.
That’s why I take everything by Dvorak with an extra large grain of rock salt.
Second, for an journalist/editor trying to stir up a flame war, you surely make an obvious grammar mistake:
And the “Live DVD” image is formatted for a CD but to [sic] big to fit on a CD.
I don’t make a habit of pointing out spelling and grammar mistakes, but coming from you (a paid journalist/editorialist), this is ghastly.
To conclude, since I’ve wasted about as much of my time as I care to, I agree that Fedora 8 should not get a free pass, but you should not get one, either.
Next time, fact check, be fair, and proofread before you write. (It would also help for you to be an actual expert).
The fact that you get paid for writing means we should hold you to a higher standard, so no, you don’t get a free pass from me.
Each new version of Fedora that comes out I have high hopes that past lessons are passed on to the next generation and that the experience will be seamless on the same or new/better built hardware, but usually, there are several problems with the next point version. Often, they’re rooted in graphics card issues, as if with all the beta testing, no one got around to getting the major graphic cards’ vendors to provide drivers or to test them with the trend of monitor resolutions. I’ve had to pass along monitor resolution to the installer more times than should be necessary, especially when the proprietary OS that others bemoan never seems to throw a hiccup on such a commodity item (not since the 98 days). Have had to deal with the 1st boot after installation and the 3 to 5 minute boot cycle failing one or more device probes until it finally exhausts both its time and mine and launches into the finalization screens, . . . not so hands-on scary for a regular user, but no fun for the 1st timer wonder what’s wrong in probe land. Also have had repeated issues of the 1st set of updates after a new install that may or may not freeze up the computer, cross your fingers, it won’t. I’ve gotten to the point that if at 1st your don’t succeed, try install a bare system and after a successful update, then piece by peace add applications.
And I still prefer to add yumex than deal with pup, but it has gotten better, more informative and useful and not comatosed in responsiveness (though it may need a force kill every once in a while).
Mileage varies. It’s probably the Dell box. Dell loves Linux so much. The experts have their knowledge base and tips and tricks. There are many Linux forums detailing problems and solutions, some expert and some simple, so there isn’t a paradise of flawless installation/runs for everybody employing Linux distros, nor Windows. The web shows that to be true. Just different views and different satisfactions for the agendas and purposes.
I love how when you click on ‘Add/Remove Software’ Fedora 8 asks for Fedora 8 CD 1, even though it was distributed as a DVD.iso.
I wasted far too much time trying to get enough bugs out to make it operational, I should have flunked it straight away but it takes soooo long to download distributions here in Tasmania, I so wanted it to work!
Far too many bugs
I have had xp on my sony vaio for about 4 years and i have to say that it is horrible, the fact that there isnt any kind of anti virus freeware that work longer than three months is what make me want to go to linux where and anti virus is not needed. I have recently installed ubuntu onto a compaq presario 5000 and it is working a whole lot better than my vaio has ever worked. I have to say that i was impressed with linux. I havnt had any problems with my install and if i do i know how to fix them, i might be fairly new with linux but the forums on how to fix things are descriptive and easy to follow. I dont have problems with the screen resolution or anything. I am running 512 ram, 250 gig hdd, and a reglar pentium 4 processor. I am about to install the ubuntu on my vaio because of how much i like it, i mean windows 98 had less problems than xP COME ON!
I’m trying not to be religious about fedora, but I liked fedora 6 very much coz it didn’t give me lot of trouble once it is set up (of course, setting up was bit of a ‘mission’). But fedora 8 on the other hand gave me a lot of troubles (display, sound); i wonder why my laptop (presario 2200) couldn’t work with fedora 8 nicely while it works great with fedora 6 ….
Thanks for all the people who developed fedora 8, but i’m sticking with fedora 6 🙂
Am an ordinary/average user. Just want my PC to work when I install an Operating System. I mean you linux guys used to say Linux just needed time and it would be perfect and even better than Windows. Well well well…..Here goes
I bought a Seagate external 320 GB for my fedora 8 install. I partitioned it, under vista using paragon and decided went on to install, hmmmm. Laptop is Toshiba satelite A135-S4527.
1. The installation would hang. Had to spend hours searching and googling to find stuff like press tab then type nohz=off nolapic and sh*t, then it continued.
2. After installing me thought I could watch all my CBTs with my headphones hooked up. Not so fast, sh*& didnt work. Ttem player asked me to buy some codecs n all. Man Fedora 8 cant even play avi format out-of-the…..
So I installed Mplayer and cool it plays, but wait, no sound from my headphones. Apparently this had to do with the new intel hda-#$$% sound cards. Man you only get sound from the speakers.
3. Worst nightmare of all, the X shizzo wont work after sleeping/hibernating. Whattagwan man?? And alot of pipo have this problem. Seriously its beenover 10 years since I first heard about Linux and it still dont work right out-of-the….
Just shows that you never get the best when you buy stuff for free. I havent even talked about the hours I spent twixing stuff. But the sleep/hibernate bug must be fixed.
Atleast with Vista I dpnt have to spend hours learning unix/linux stuff for me to get my work done. So back to vista and Solaris 10.
The guys developing fedora are obviously working hard but man this is below the bar. I mean I cant even find a proper download manager for fedora. Am tired of typing ./configure–>make–>make install. How but a nice click of next next next. Even makes it easier to customize.
All the best, maybe the release 2-3 years from now will be the one for us not so genius computer freaaks.
#84. i dont know what kind of hardware you been using man but to compare Vista/Xp to fedora 8 and/or linux is for me a contender for joke of the year.
Am a gamer and linux is like 100 years behind windows when it comes to that. My EA sports games work well in Vista just like they did in XP. On fedora I cant even try, I mean you have to reboot the laptop every 2 hours in case you walked out. Am sick of this.
Its hurts to realise that Linux has been over hyped. Maybe its cool on the server-end of things but man half the things dont work. Why should I spend 2-3 hours everyday on LinuxQuestions and fedoraforum.
Am new to this linux and I really thought it would work, considering the time and period we are in. I mean you guys are proud of typing commands in this time and age.
I ordered ubuntu 7.10 after a genius I know told me to dump fedora. And am doing that, though the time and effort spent is so much on this …….. ok OUT.
Fedora 8 is just killing me. I do not claim to be an expert but I am not an idiot either.
1. Using the Fedora 8 live cd/dvd I tried to recover the home directory from a previous FC6 broken installation. Such a pain that was… The partition was Linux LVM, so i had to first learn how to discover and use the tools. The one coming on the GUI was cowardly refusing to work mentioning something about the incomplete conf file (of the live cd, eh)
2. I have a Dell 2407WFP-HC monitor that is supposed to work in 1920×1200. After the first installation, it got the proper resolution/refresh rate.
I updated the 180 packages fedora suggested and that resolution disappeared from the list. It was now suggesting 1932x133x or 1600/1200
Needless to say I have tried 239x possible combinations of xorg.conf
Eventually that was partially solved by replacing the nvidia drivers (it shows the correct resolution but 50Mz instead of 60)
3. HUGE Problems with every single stupid package I need.
a. I installed java1.6 for x64.
I installed Azureus – crashed. Many searches, I find that a similar problem exists for eclipse and is related to java for x64. Remove Java/ install java x32. problem solved
I am attempting to install rails, therefore go install gcc, ruby, rubygems.
When i go gem install rails, it complains about zlib library.
Needless to say that stupid library is present. I even recompiled ruby again, with no luck.
I am not even able to watch a movie. I do not understand why this version comes with all that worthless crap of kde applications. There are hundreds of them, but they are all crap.
It has a torrent downloader that is useless, it moves like a turtle. It has an unzipper that is so stupid it did not think that i wanted to unzip from multiple volumes, not just a piece of the file.
I was content with FC6, although i remember i had to go through days of pain trying to configure all the packages, but FC8 seems to give me enough pain to push me towards Windows, as I am sick of having to deal with hundreds of errors for every stupid little package.
Sorry for the tone, I am obviously pissed off 😛
Mperkel, I agree with you. I just did an install of Fedora 8 and had ridiculous issues. Like you no cursor, wtf? This is Fedora 8 and you can’t get the cursor right? Development distro? Thats not an excuse. Botched my MBR with some silly crap so I can’t get back into XP, why? How long has Linux been around? Lilo worked fine why add something that doesn’t work? Every experience I’ve had with Fedora was bad… Like mperkel says, certain things should work without having to think about it. Linux noobs are the biggest preachers, preachers that are full of it. And when I say noob I mean using Linux after Red Hat 9. You shouldn’t have to get something to work after its worked before for many years. Yeah, we know how to fix it, but after after 12 years of Linux maturity, why the hell cant the cursor work by default? Like mperkel said, it has become a waste of time. All the ridiculous repsonses that defend something that doesnt work are examples of the open source welfare. Community? Any real server admin doesn’t want to waste his time fixing something that should work already, and anyone with a life wouldnt want to waste even 10 minutes of his weekend building a machine for personal Linux use, fixing a cursor and bootloader issue that should work by default. NM, the fact its fixable. Linux is the best at server side side applications, but when you just want something that works, at least Fedora sucks.
# 21 wiscados said, on November 9th, 2007 at 2:12 am PIBKAC
haha what? its PEBKAC (problem exists between keyboard and chair), wtf is PIBKAC?